Waste Prevention Community Grant Fund - Applications

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2025 - 2026 Programme Overview

The Waste Prevention Community Grant Fund for 2025-26 is provided by West Sussex County Council (WSCC) in partnership with Biffa and provides support for community organisations to deliver new or expanded, innovative waste prevention and reuse initiatives resulting in a reduction of household waste. This includes Community Groups, CIC’s, charities, social enterprises.

Grants of up to a maximum of £5,000 are available for projects delivered across West Sussex in 2025/2026.  

Projects must meet the following aims:

  • Support local community activity to improve waste prevention behaviours through reuse and / or waste prevention projects reducing household waste

  • Make a difference to the wider community, and to people’s lives in West Sussex

This section gives an overview of the project including funding criteria and eligibility, what will be funded, types of Organisations and Projects that will be considered for the Community Grant Fund.  

Fund Criteria and Eligibility

  • The maximum amount awarded to each project will be £5,000. There is no minimum amount.

Applications will be ranked and scored based on their: 

  • Demonstrated impact in preventing household waste.  

  • Innovation to services and / or introducing new projects to local areas already proven to reduce household waste elsewhere. 

  • Ability to be sustained post funding and / or have an on-going impact. 

  • Social and community benefits. 

  • Experience in successfully delivering previous projects will also be assessed. 

  • Please note that funding will be awarded to the highest scoring applications subject to grant funds being available. 

  • Projects will be funded for 12 months and delivered in 2025/2026 

Projects must demonstrate the following objectives:

  • That they will have an impact on the population within the County. 

  • That they do not duplicate activity in the local area (e.g., District/Town/Parish) that is already taking place. 

  • Measurable reductions in the amount of household waste, e.g., through furniture reused, or food diverted from waste. 

  • Social benefits (jobs/volunteer posts created, number of residents trained etc) 

  • Who the project is likely to directly engage. 

  • How the project is innovative or new (to the local area). 

  • The methods used to effect behaviour change. 

  • Sustainability and / or an ongoing impact in terms of waste prevention outcomes. The fund will only support new, or expansion of existing products and services. It will not pay for existing activities. 

Funding can be awarded to the following groups:

  • Community, neighbourhood, or voluntary groups; that have an overarching community purpose that reaches beyond its membership. 

  • Registered Charities; you should provide your Charity Number if applicable.

  • Schools, colleges, and universities 

  • Not-for-profit organisations (including social enterprises) this is a registered legal entity that does not make a profit for directors, members, or shareholders.

  •  Parish Councils 

Examples of suitable organisations and projects

Organisation and Project

Material Focus

Project Summary

Cookery

Food

This type of project could deliver cooking and waste demonstrations to residents to reduce and reuse food.

Food Hubs

Food

These examples would focus on reducing and reusing food waste in homes across West Sussex. The project could enable the residents to donate their unwanted food which could be redirected / repurposed to other residents who have use for them across the county. Funding for organisations to deliver information sessions focussing on cookery, growing, and composting including Grow your own swap shops could also be requested.

It might also glean food from gardens and offer practical skills in preparing, preserving, pickling, fermenting etc.

Community Fridges

Composting (HOTBIN)

Pantry

Repair Cafes

Food

Electrical Waste / equipment

Textiles

This type of project focuses on reuse and repurposing of items that are repairable and reusable and hence reducing waste. The project could aim to have experts such as seamstress, electrician, clock repairer, cobbler, a joiner who will be available to fix items free of charge.

Sewing Groups

Textiles

This type of project could provide a sewing group that teaches and supports new sewing skills, focussing on re-fashioning old worn and damaged clothes into new items and mending items which provides an alternative to ‘fast fashion’.’ Online classes can also be made available. It could also deliver Swap Shops and use recycled and repurposed materials.

Nappy Library

Textiles

This type of project could focus on reusable nappies by educating and encouraging residents to move from disposable nappies to reusable nappies. There could be resources such as cloth nappies, safety pins etc available for residents to borrow and use for trials at home and there could be funds available to purchase the necessary resources that would be available to residents. This would contribute to the reduction in the amount of disposable nappy waste being processed as residual waste.

Furniture

Furniture

Furniture restoration would encourage reuse, repair, and repurposing of furniture items by establishing drop-in upcycling sessions which could be a dedicated space for residents to learn new skills by upcycling their furniture by bringing their own items or utilising donated furniture.

The project could receive unwanted and donated furniture for restoration whilst training and offering volunteers vital upcycling skills and knowledge.

Library of Things

Food equipment and electricals

This type of project could focus on offering kitchen equipment and household electricals lending library such as cake tins, preserving jars, fruit press, carpet cleaners and other food saving items and household appliances.

Toy Library

Textiles, plastics, and toys

This type of project will focus on sustainability and reduction of waste. It could be delivered through children’s clothes swap, playgroups which will support and inspire families by exploring sustainability with their children. The grant could also be used to introduce a lending library with toys and baby items.

Funding cannot be awarded to:

  • Individuals 

  • Business as usual activities 

  • Recycling projects 

  • Projects which focus on reducing business or commercial waste, including school waste 

  • Projects where the impacts will be outside of the County Council’s area 

  • Projects that already exist. 

Period and amount of Community Grant Funding (CGF) 

  • Funding must be spent within 1 year of award of contract. 

  • Payments aimed to commence from April 2025. 

  • Payments will be scheduled in line with key project milestones outlined by the applicant in the Additional Project Details document. 

  • Community fund (CF) payment schedule will be agreed with successful applicants as part of the formal grant offer. 

  • Scheduled reporting will be required for 12 months from the first fund payment. 

  • Applicants will have a plan on how the project will be sustained and/or identifies outcomes which demonstrates a significant expansion (expansion into different areas/multiple projects) and legacy beyond the funding period of 12 months. 

Trial locations

  • to be set up in areas where there is a significant need for specific type of project to be set up to be successful when fully commissioned.  

Expected Benefits

  • Materials targeted – textiles, clothes, food, plastic, furniture, and garden waste. 

  • Types of organisations – schools, charities, community groups 

  • Funding summary – number of projects and amount invested. 

  • Number of waste prevention (reuse, repair, recycling) projects set up. 

  • Amount of CGF investment in the environment 

  • Amount of income generated in the local community. 

  • Number of training sessions and events 

  • Quantity and quality of materials diverted away from waste. 

  • Number of people engaged. 

  • Number of volunteer hours 

  • Number of volunteer opportunities created. 

  • Social Value  

  • Number of items repaired and reused. 

  • Number of low-income residents supported. 

Applications and the grant allocation process:

Only eligible groups should apply. Proposals must be submitted using the online application portal, Your Voice, completing all questions, and uploading required documents. This will enable us to award grants in an efficient and transparent manner according to agreed funding specifications.

Please note that this will only work with compatible browsers (Microsoft Edge v86 and above, Chrome v86 and above, Firefox v78 and above or Safari v14 and above).

You will only be able to return to a draft application if you have registered on the Your Voice platform. If you do not register, this function will be unavailable and could result in loss of information.

Please read your application carefully before pressing submit as you will not be able to return to your application to amend or provide further information once you have submitted.

We recommend that you read the [FAQ] section prior to completing an application to assist you in gathering information for submission and to fully understand the requirements for the application itself.

We have provided templates to assist you in planning your application responses. (downloadable on the right)

If you have any questions regarding your application that are not covered on the FAQ page, please contact us for further information.

Your applications should include:

  • A clear proposal of your how your project will meet the objectives above, you must use the Project Plan template and upload this to the portal. (Downloadable on the right)

  • A completed risk assessment of your project and any related activity, either using the Risk Assessment template or your own, and uploaded to the portal (Template downloadable on the right)

  • A completed Budget Breakdown for your project using the Budget Breakdown template or your own and uploaded to the portal.

  • Copies of current public liability and Employers liability Insurance Certificates uploaded to the portal. If you do not currently have these please continue to apply and note this on your application.

  • Audited accounts for the last financial year uploaded to the portal

  • Evidence of funding from the Third Party [if applicable] uploaded to the portal

  • DBS Certificate if required as outlined in the Grant Application Template

We recommend that you have all the necessary documentation ready to attach before you start completing the online application.

However, once registered you can re-visit your application before final submission, but you must register for this function to be available.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion:

Providers will be asked to consider and identify how they propose to meet the needs of diverse groups i.e. food provision which cater for religious beliefs, activities which are gender-aware and inclusive for children with additional needs or disabilities.

Freedom of Information (FOI)

The Council is subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (“EIR”) and shall provide all necessary assistance and co-operation reasonably requested by the Council (at the Council’s expense) to enable the Council to comply with its obligations under the FOIA and EIR’s in relation to any request for information concerning the Grant Funding or the Project.

How to get your questions answered:

If you have questions about the project, please get in touch to find out more. You can contact us via email at wasteprevention.fund@westsussex.gov.uk

Accessibility statement

If you require any of this information in an alternative format, then please contact us via email at wasteprevention.fund@westsussex.gov.uk or by telephone on 01243 777100 and we will do our best to assist you. If you are deaf or hard of hearing and have an NGT texting app installed on your computer, laptop, or smartphone, you can contact us on 18001 01243 777100

We are committed to making this website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. Please view the West Sussex County Council Accessibility Statement for further details. Information about the accessibility of the Your Voice Engagement Hub can be found by clicking on the 'Accessibility tab' which can be found at the bottom of this page. Where it exists, we will provide details of any project related content which is not fully accessible under a heading of 'non-accessible content' below.

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us at haveyoursay@westsussex.gov.uk.

Privacy Policy


The Place Services Team at West Sussex County Council will use this survey to collect some personal data (e.g., name, email address), the processing of which is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) complies with the 2018 Data Protection Act and the GDPR (UK) and is registered as a ‘Data Controller’ with the Information Commissioner’s Office (Reg. No. Z6413427). The Data Protection Officer (DPO) for WSCC can be found on our website (opens in new window).

The data we will collect will be held for a period of up to 10 years before being appropriately destroyed. We will also share the data with our partners, Biffa, to help us identify those projects to whom a grant should be awarded. Please read Biffa’s Privacy Statement.

2025 - 2026 Programme Overview

The Waste Prevention Community Grant Fund for 2025-26 is provided by West Sussex County Council (WSCC) in partnership with Biffa and provides support for community organisations to deliver new or expanded, innovative waste prevention and reuse initiatives resulting in a reduction of household waste. This includes Community Groups, CIC’s, charities, social enterprises.

Grants of up to a maximum of £5,000 are available for projects delivered across West Sussex in 2025/2026.  

Projects must meet the following aims:

  • Support local community activity to improve waste prevention behaviours through reuse and / or waste prevention projects reducing household waste

  • Make a difference to the wider community, and to people’s lives in West Sussex

This section gives an overview of the project including funding criteria and eligibility, what will be funded, types of Organisations and Projects that will be considered for the Community Grant Fund.  

Fund Criteria and Eligibility

  • The maximum amount awarded to each project will be £5,000. There is no minimum amount.

Applications will be ranked and scored based on their: 

  • Demonstrated impact in preventing household waste.  

  • Innovation to services and / or introducing new projects to local areas already proven to reduce household waste elsewhere. 

  • Ability to be sustained post funding and / or have an on-going impact. 

  • Social and community benefits. 

  • Experience in successfully delivering previous projects will also be assessed. 

  • Please note that funding will be awarded to the highest scoring applications subject to grant funds being available. 

  • Projects will be funded for 12 months and delivered in 2025/2026 

Projects must demonstrate the following objectives:

  • That they will have an impact on the population within the County. 

  • That they do not duplicate activity in the local area (e.g., District/Town/Parish) that is already taking place. 

  • Measurable reductions in the amount of household waste, e.g., through furniture reused, or food diverted from waste. 

  • Social benefits (jobs/volunteer posts created, number of residents trained etc) 

  • Who the project is likely to directly engage. 

  • How the project is innovative or new (to the local area). 

  • The methods used to effect behaviour change. 

  • Sustainability and / or an ongoing impact in terms of waste prevention outcomes. The fund will only support new, or expansion of existing products and services. It will not pay for existing activities. 

Funding can be awarded to the following groups:

  • Community, neighbourhood, or voluntary groups; that have an overarching community purpose that reaches beyond its membership. 

  • Registered Charities; you should provide your Charity Number if applicable.

  • Schools, colleges, and universities 

  • Not-for-profit organisations (including social enterprises) this is a registered legal entity that does not make a profit for directors, members, or shareholders.

  •  Parish Councils 

Examples of suitable organisations and projects

Organisation and Project

Material Focus

Project Summary

Cookery

Food

This type of project could deliver cooking and waste demonstrations to residents to reduce and reuse food.

Food Hubs

Food

These examples would focus on reducing and reusing food waste in homes across West Sussex. The project could enable the residents to donate their unwanted food which could be redirected / repurposed to other residents who have use for them across the county. Funding for organisations to deliver information sessions focussing on cookery, growing, and composting including Grow your own swap shops could also be requested.

It might also glean food from gardens and offer practical skills in preparing, preserving, pickling, fermenting etc.

Community Fridges

Composting (HOTBIN)

Pantry

Repair Cafes

Food

Electrical Waste / equipment

Textiles

This type of project focuses on reuse and repurposing of items that are repairable and reusable and hence reducing waste. The project could aim to have experts such as seamstress, electrician, clock repairer, cobbler, a joiner who will be available to fix items free of charge.

Sewing Groups

Textiles

This type of project could provide a sewing group that teaches and supports new sewing skills, focussing on re-fashioning old worn and damaged clothes into new items and mending items which provides an alternative to ‘fast fashion’.’ Online classes can also be made available. It could also deliver Swap Shops and use recycled and repurposed materials.

Nappy Library

Textiles

This type of project could focus on reusable nappies by educating and encouraging residents to move from disposable nappies to reusable nappies. There could be resources such as cloth nappies, safety pins etc available for residents to borrow and use for trials at home and there could be funds available to purchase the necessary resources that would be available to residents. This would contribute to the reduction in the amount of disposable nappy waste being processed as residual waste.

Furniture

Furniture

Furniture restoration would encourage reuse, repair, and repurposing of furniture items by establishing drop-in upcycling sessions which could be a dedicated space for residents to learn new skills by upcycling their furniture by bringing their own items or utilising donated furniture.

The project could receive unwanted and donated furniture for restoration whilst training and offering volunteers vital upcycling skills and knowledge.

Library of Things

Food equipment and electricals

This type of project could focus on offering kitchen equipment and household electricals lending library such as cake tins, preserving jars, fruit press, carpet cleaners and other food saving items and household appliances.

Toy Library

Textiles, plastics, and toys

This type of project will focus on sustainability and reduction of waste. It could be delivered through children’s clothes swap, playgroups which will support and inspire families by exploring sustainability with their children. The grant could also be used to introduce a lending library with toys and baby items.

Funding cannot be awarded to:

  • Individuals 

  • Business as usual activities 

  • Recycling projects 

  • Projects which focus on reducing business or commercial waste, including school waste 

  • Projects where the impacts will be outside of the County Council’s area 

  • Projects that already exist. 

Period and amount of Community Grant Funding (CGF) 

  • Funding must be spent within 1 year of award of contract. 

  • Payments aimed to commence from April 2025. 

  • Payments will be scheduled in line with key project milestones outlined by the applicant in the Additional Project Details document. 

  • Community fund (CF) payment schedule will be agreed with successful applicants as part of the formal grant offer. 

  • Scheduled reporting will be required for 12 months from the first fund payment. 

  • Applicants will have a plan on how the project will be sustained and/or identifies outcomes which demonstrates a significant expansion (expansion into different areas/multiple projects) and legacy beyond the funding period of 12 months. 

Trial locations

  • to be set up in areas where there is a significant need for specific type of project to be set up to be successful when fully commissioned.  

Expected Benefits

  • Materials targeted – textiles, clothes, food, plastic, furniture, and garden waste. 

  • Types of organisations – schools, charities, community groups 

  • Funding summary – number of projects and amount invested. 

  • Number of waste prevention (reuse, repair, recycling) projects set up. 

  • Amount of CGF investment in the environment 

  • Amount of income generated in the local community. 

  • Number of training sessions and events 

  • Quantity and quality of materials diverted away from waste. 

  • Number of people engaged. 

  • Number of volunteer hours 

  • Number of volunteer opportunities created. 

  • Social Value  

  • Number of items repaired and reused. 

  • Number of low-income residents supported. 

Applications and the grant allocation process:

Only eligible groups should apply. Proposals must be submitted using the online application portal, Your Voice, completing all questions, and uploading required documents. This will enable us to award grants in an efficient and transparent manner according to agreed funding specifications.

Please note that this will only work with compatible browsers (Microsoft Edge v86 and above, Chrome v86 and above, Firefox v78 and above or Safari v14 and above).

You will only be able to return to a draft application if you have registered on the Your Voice platform. If you do not register, this function will be unavailable and could result in loss of information.

Please read your application carefully before pressing submit as you will not be able to return to your application to amend or provide further information once you have submitted.

We recommend that you read the [FAQ] section prior to completing an application to assist you in gathering information for submission and to fully understand the requirements for the application itself.

We have provided templates to assist you in planning your application responses. (downloadable on the right)

If you have any questions regarding your application that are not covered on the FAQ page, please contact us for further information.

Your applications should include:

  • A clear proposal of your how your project will meet the objectives above, you must use the Project Plan template and upload this to the portal. (Downloadable on the right)

  • A completed risk assessment of your project and any related activity, either using the Risk Assessment template or your own, and uploaded to the portal (Template downloadable on the right)

  • A completed Budget Breakdown for your project using the Budget Breakdown template or your own and uploaded to the portal.

  • Copies of current public liability and Employers liability Insurance Certificates uploaded to the portal. If you do not currently have these please continue to apply and note this on your application.

  • Audited accounts for the last financial year uploaded to the portal

  • Evidence of funding from the Third Party [if applicable] uploaded to the portal

  • DBS Certificate if required as outlined in the Grant Application Template

We recommend that you have all the necessary documentation ready to attach before you start completing the online application.

However, once registered you can re-visit your application before final submission, but you must register for this function to be available.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion:

Providers will be asked to consider and identify how they propose to meet the needs of diverse groups i.e. food provision which cater for religious beliefs, activities which are gender-aware and inclusive for children with additional needs or disabilities.

Freedom of Information (FOI)

The Council is subject to the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (“FOIA”) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (“EIR”) and shall provide all necessary assistance and co-operation reasonably requested by the Council (at the Council’s expense) to enable the Council to comply with its obligations under the FOIA and EIR’s in relation to any request for information concerning the Grant Funding or the Project.

How to get your questions answered:

If you have questions about the project, please get in touch to find out more. You can contact us via email at wasteprevention.fund@westsussex.gov.uk

Accessibility statement

If you require any of this information in an alternative format, then please contact us via email at wasteprevention.fund@westsussex.gov.uk or by telephone on 01243 777100 and we will do our best to assist you. If you are deaf or hard of hearing and have an NGT texting app installed on your computer, laptop, or smartphone, you can contact us on 18001 01243 777100

We are committed to making this website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. Please view the West Sussex County Council Accessibility Statement for further details. Information about the accessibility of the Your Voice Engagement Hub can be found by clicking on the 'Accessibility tab' which can be found at the bottom of this page. Where it exists, we will provide details of any project related content which is not fully accessible under a heading of 'non-accessible content' below.

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website. If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we are not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us at haveyoursay@westsussex.gov.uk.

Privacy Policy


The Place Services Team at West Sussex County Council will use this survey to collect some personal data (e.g., name, email address), the processing of which is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) complies with the 2018 Data Protection Act and the GDPR (UK) and is registered as a ‘Data Controller’ with the Information Commissioner’s Office (Reg. No. Z6413427). The Data Protection Officer (DPO) for WSCC can be found on our website (opens in new window).

The data we will collect will be held for a period of up to 10 years before being appropriately destroyed. We will also share the data with our partners, Biffa, to help us identify those projects to whom a grant should be awarded. Please read Biffa’s Privacy Statement.

  • Waste Prevention Community Grant Fund Application Form

    Before you start:  

    It is important you review and fully understand the following documents before attempting to complete this form: 



    Please note that this application form will only work with compatible browsers (Microsoft Edge v86 and above, Chrome v86 and above, Firefox v78 and above or Safari v14 and above).  


    You will only be able to return to a draft application if you have registered on the Your Voice platform. If you do not register, this function will be unavailable and could result in loss of information.   


    Please read your application carefully before pressing submit as you will not be able to return to your application to amend or provide further information once you have submitted. 

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Page last updated: 21 Jan 2025, 11:55 AM